


I'm glad you're here

by oncetherelivedaboy



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Spoilers, post-trk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 05:02:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncetherelivedaboy/pseuds/oncetherelivedaboy
Summary: Technically finals weren’t over for another 2 days, but his schedule had worked out that his were all in the first three days. It wasn’t that he intentionally didn’t tell Ronan, it was more that he wanted to surprise him. It was still a shock every time Ronan picked up the phone even more so when he was the one calling. Even when they were scheduled calls, it was strange.





	I'm glad you're here

Cool summer air wafted through the open windows of the charcoal BMW. Adam was going a twinge over the speed limit as he took the back roads that led to the secluded end goal of The Barns. His home, in the middle of nowhere, wasn’t so much the collection of buildings or the beautiful farm house. His home wasn’t a something, it was a someone.

               It was late, he was tired. He’d finished his last final early that morning and had spent most the afternoon packing up his belongings and stuffing everything into Ronan’s car. He’d been driving it for the last 9 months but he still didn’t consider it his car. He was borrowing it until he could get his car fixed, the one that Ronan so lovingly called the “Shitbox”. He had a week off before he started working again. He hadn’t anticipated getting home this early; technically finals weren’t over for another 2 days, but his schedule had worked out that his were all in the first three days. It wasn’t that he intentionally didn’t tell Ronan, it was more that he wanted to surprise him. It was still a shock every time Ronan picked up the phone even more so when he was the one calling. Even when they were scheduled calls, it was strange.

               It’s a long drive, and by the time he reaches the long winding driveway his legs are cramping and his vision is blurry. He just wants to collapse into Ronan’s bed, or better yet the couch. He didn’t have to climb any stairs to get to the couch. He nearly groans aloud at the thought of a pillow. He presses the button for the garage when the house finally becomes visible and pulls into the bay, expecting to see Ronan’s other car parked in their as well, but it’s not. Adam gets out, slamming the car door after he grabs his backpack and toiletry bag. He doesn’t need the rest of it tonight. He’ll empty out the car in the morning. He fears shuffling on the gravel road as he climbs up the steps on the porch. His keys jingle softly in his hand. He glances back to see Opal and she grins, running up to him.

“Kerah said you weren’t coming home for another two days.” He sighs at her nickname for Ronan, knowing that Ronan hates it, but he can’t bring himself to correct her as he ruffles her hair. She squirms away from the touch and fixes her skullcap.

“I’m home early.” It’s the only explanation he offers as he finishes his climb up the steps and unlocks the door. Opal follows. While he carefully unties his shoes on the bench next to the door, Opal sits down next to him. From under the bench she produces a comb and a pair of thick wool socks. She quickly brushes through the hair on her legs, removing burrs and anything else stuck in them. Adam stopped after the first shoe, to watch her with careful consideration.

“Did Ronan dream that for you?” She nodded.

“So my legs don’t smell like wet dog.” Adam frowned at that. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand that she wasn’t human. She wasn’t tame, she’d never be, she wasn’t human and yet she wasn’t quite animal. He didn’t want to tell Ronan how to deal with this dream creature, but he thought that swearing and insulting less might help at least a bit.  He continued with his laces as she continued to brush, and then he waited for her to finish. She pulled on the long socks; they were so long that the tops disappeared up into her sweater.  She then reached down into her sweater to pull out a piece of bark and shoved it into her mouth. Adam didn’t comment as she did so, just kind of pursed his lips to one side. She was incorrigible and knew that she wouldn’t care what he had to say about it. She was enjoying the crunch of the wood between her teeth.

               Adam stood, taking his bags with his as he made his way to the staircase. His exhaustion hit him again as he stared up at the lofty flight. He was about to turn towards the living room when he felt Opal come up next to him and clomp up the stairs, the socks only really seemed to be used to prevent scratching up the hardwood and the muffle the clack on the floors. She stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at him. She was holding the tree bark in one hand as she munched on it joyously.

               He climbed the stairs and didn’t bother with the hall lights as he made his way to the bedroom. He muddled through brushing his teeth, half asleep with bleary eyes. He strips down to his underwear in the bathroom and finds a pair of his pajamas in the dresser in the bedroom. The house was cool compared to the promising beginning of a hot Virginia summer outside. He fell face first into the bed, pulling Ronan’s pillow to him and pressing it to his face, breathing in the scent. It smelled like sunshine and sweat and home. It smelled like home. He checked his phone. It was nearly 9 in the evening. He could likely wait up for Ronan, nothing ever beat the reunion kisses, except maybe the reunion sex. That thought alone could have kept him until the wee hours of the morning, but knowing Ronan, he’d take one look at the dark circles, at the mussed hair, at the glassy tired eyes and throw a pillow at him. “Get some shut-eye Parrish.” He’d say it in a way that sounded like “or else” should follow the statement, but Adam could read him, could decode the intricacies of Ronan Lynch. He knew those words meant that he cared and that if he stretched out an arm to him Ronan would follow him easily into the bed, even if it was just to be near Adam. Adam knew sleep didn’t come easily to Ronan. Not real sleep at least, dream sleep never let Ronan rest.

               He picked the phone back up and dialed Ronan. Opal stood in the doorway. He heard her more that he saw her. One ring… He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say… Two rings… would he tell him that he was home? Three rings...would he tell him that he was in their bed? Four rings...tell him to hurry the hell up and get home so that he could fuck his brains out. Five Rings… He remembered Opal in the doorway and decided to leave that part out. She had no shame, or lust but her strange voyeuristic tendencies never ceased to make him uncomfortable.

“Parrish? Thought we agreed I’d leave you alone so you could study this week.”

“I’m needy.” He sighed and heard a slight laugh from the other end.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying in bed, waiting for my roommate to get back.” It wasn’t a lie, just a careful beat around the bush. “What about you Lynch?”

“On my way home, Matthew came up to see me this afternoon and wanted to get gelato.”

“And you’re only on your way home now?”

“We may have kicked off summer with a bang in the Monmouth Parking Lot.”

“Sounds like a good time.” There was a long stretch of silence.

“I wish you were home right now.” Ronan says, it’s almost a whisper. “Sleeping alone sucks, you ground me. It takes me hours when you aren’t here.” Adam says nothing. The silence continues to stretch out before them. “I know it’s only a few more nights.” Adam sighs.

“I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble sleeping tonight.”

“You don’t get it man.”

“I really do.” He hears the hum of Ronan’s EDM in the background over the car’s stereo. “You dream up a fix for my car yet?”

“Nah, you’re too hot in my car to let you drive the shitbox again.”

“I’m serious Ronan.”

“So am I.” He takes a breath. “You should get some sleep, you sound like shit.”

“Thanks babe.” He says it jokingly.

“Academia awaits you or some bullshit, and you can’t reach it without sleep.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Go to bed Parrish, and don’t call me again until you’re done with your exams.”

“How far are you from home?” Adam rolls over in the bed.

“I’m turning into the driveway now.”

“Just talk to me until you get inside.” Ronan sighs.

“You really are needy.”

“Love you.”

“Yeah whatever, I love you too shithead.” Adam keeps the phone pinned to his good ear and gestures at Opal to hit the light switch as he stand. She does and Adam crosses the room to look out the window. He watches the driveway.

“So are you going to talk or just make me sit on this phone call with you while you should be getting sleep.”

“Just pretend I’m just in the car with you.”

“Parrish.” It’s nearly a growl. Adam knows he gets like this because of longing; he doesn’t like to think about things that he can’t have then and there.

“Tell me about the last things you dreamt.”

“It was a little toy car.” Adam’s mind goes back to the one he’d been fiddling with in Ronan’s childhood bedroom. “It was supposed to be like the BMW, all slick and cool. It was going to be an exact down to the last wadded up receipt.”

“So what happened?”

“I ended up with a white Mitsubishi. It got all muddled. It’s hard to concentrate with Opal in the real world.”

“So dream up a new psycho-pomp or whatever she is.” He glances back at Opal who is glaring at him following that statement.

“You don’t think I’ve tried.”

“I don’t know, try harder.” He sees Ronan’s headlights as the car emerges from the bramble of trees. Watches as it speeds down the last bit of straightaway before he slides into his usual spot outside the garage.

“I’m home, now go to sleep.”

“You’re a shithead.”

“I’ll see you Friday?”

“You’ll see me Friday.” Adam confirms. The line goes dead. He continues to watch as Ronan gets of the car. He shoves his phone deep into his pocket. He chews on his wristbands as he climbs the steps. It’s strange to watch him when he thinks he has no audience. His posture slacks, his eyes look downward. He looks tired. He unlocks the door and then he disappears from Adam’s sight. Adam gets back into the bed and waits.

               He hears a considerable amount of noise from downstairs, soft shuffling, and heavy boots on the kitchen tile. He hears a muffled voice, gruff and loud and somewhat annoyed. He can’t pick out full sentences, but there are lots of swear words involved. He waits and at some point the exhaustion overtakes him and he slips into glorious sleep.

               When Ronan finds him, he stands in the doorway for a long moment, he must be dreaming he thinks. There is no way that Adam Parrish is in his bed at this moment. He tries to force himself awake, and then he sees a blonde head sticking out from under the covers, wrapped up in Adam’s arms and also sleeping comfortably. He could never dream another Opal, this is how he knows it’s real. He brushes his own teeth and changes into a pair of pajamas and climbs in next to Adam. This is when he discovers that Adam has stolen his pillow and he does his best to pry it out of his hands without waking him up. He manages it, and then Chainsaw comes floating in and lands on Opal’s head.

“Don’t you dare.” Ronan murmurs. Chainsaw lets out at unholy “Kerah” directed at Ronan and yanks Opal’s hair.  Adam startles away, shuffling backwards into Ronan and knocking him off the bed as Opal lets out a shrill cry and kicks at Adam. Chainsaw flaps her wings and somehow manages to drag Opal off the bed as she topples backward. “Lousy fucking bird.” Ronan yells as he opens the window and shoos Chainsaw out into the night. “Opal, you too.” She huffs and walks over to him, grabbing onto the window ledge. “Not out the window, you are not a bird. Go out the door like a civilized person.” She sticks her tongue out at Ronan and marches out of the room.   Adam is the only one left in the bed.

“How are you here?”

“My last exam was this morning, packed everything up and left this afternoon.” Ronan closes the distance between them in an instant, a leg on either side of Adam’s hips. Their mouths meet and his fingers wrap into Adam’s hair.

“I’m glad you’re here.” He manages to say as Adam’s mouth works wonders on his jaw and his long beautiful fingers glide up under his shirt, playing at his warm skin.

“I’m glad I’m here to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me, posting something random? It's more likely than you think. Anyway, I recently reread the Raven cycle, something that I read for the first time almost four years ago and loved ever since I first picked it up.   
> Follow my tumblr at oncetherelivedaboy.tumblr.com for wacky bullshit. Also I do take requests so send me some. I also write Hamilton and some Voltron.


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